Golliwog dolls withdrawn from British Queen’s shop

London, Feb 5 (IANS) A gift shop owned by the British Queen in northeast England has withdrawn golliwog toys that they were found to be selling.Managers at the shop in the Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk apologised and a spokesman said they “did not intend to offend anyone.”

The move followed the expulsion of journalist Carol Thatcher, daughter of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, from a popular BBC television show after she made an off-screen reference to a black tennis player as a “golliwog”.

The 9.99 pound-golliwog toys had been on sale in the Sandringham shop for more than a year.

A spokesman for the 20,000-acre estate, which receives 250,000 visitors every year, said: “The management of the shop have said they did not intend to offend anyone by selling this product and have apologised if any offence has been caused.

“The shop will immediately review its purchasing policy.”

Buckingham Palace has stressed that the Queen is not personally involved in deciding what is sold in the shop.